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Spanish Acordar and Related Words

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Mack Singleton
Mack Singleton*
Affiliation:
Queens College
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Abstract

[Latin cŏr ‘heart’ and chorda ‘string, cord, chord’ have been proposed as the origin of Spanish acordar. Examples from early texts show that all the principal meanings of acordar are to be found in cŏr and related words. Chorda accounts for only the meanings ‘harmonize, agree’ and not for the meanings that refer to mental and emotional states. Although there may be an overlapping of cŏr and chorda in the meanings ‘harmonize, agree’, cŏr, since it could account for all meanings, should also appear in REW §71a. It should be stated that of the two Latin words chorda occupies the second place of importance.]

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 17 , Issue 2-Part1: April-June , June 1941 , pp. 119 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © 1941 Linguistic Society of America

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References

1 ‘Etimologistas franceses e italianos han dado por cosa cierta que este verbo se aplicó primariamente a los instrumentos músicos, y que es compuesto de ad y chorda, “cuerda”; pero la mayor parte de las acepciones no pueden explicarse de este modo. Lo cierto es que es un derivado de cor, corazón, en que se han confundido las significaciones de acorde y cuerdo y análogo a concordar, recordar, así como acorde lo es a concorde, en lat. Concors, de igual origen que excors, vecors.‘

The Diccionario Histórico de la Lengua Española accepts cor, cordis without discussion put does not offer enough examples from the earliest periods to serve as a complete guide in semantics. A. Castro, RFE 5.25 (1918), doubts *acchordāre: ‘La influencia de cor parece evidente en vista de concordare, discordare (Cantar, página 426).‘ Richardson in his glossary to the Libro de Buen Amor suspects a double influence.

2 In preparation of this article I have made use of the files of the Seminary of Medieval Spanish Studies at the University of Wisconsin. The preparation of a vocabulary of the works of Alfonso X of Castile was begun by the late A. G. Solalinde. It is now under the direction of Professor Lloyd Kasten.

For their criticism of the present study I wish to thank Professor Kasten and Professor Américo Castro of Princeton University. I have found it very convenient to refer to the Concordance of Berceo of Professor Bart E. Thomas (unpublished thesis, Wisconsin).

This note on acordar presents a method to be followed in the determination of etymologies for the Alfonsine vocabulary. I have to thank the Research Committee of the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin for assistance during the summer of 1936 in studying the vocabulary on file.

3 The following abbreviations are used: Apol. = Libro de Apolonio, ed. Marden; C = Poema de Mio Cid, ed. Menéndez Pidal (Clásicos Castellanos 24); Duelo = Berceo, Duelo de la Virgen, BAE, vol. 67; GE 1 = Alfonso X, General Estoria 1, ed. Solalinde; JRz. = Juan Ruiz, Libro de Buen Amor (Vocabularies of Aguado and Richardson); Loores = Berceo, Loores de Nuestra Señora, BAE, vol. 67; PC = Alfonso X, Primera Crónica General, ed. Menéndez Pidal; Pi. = Alfonso X, Picatrix, Manuscript of the Vatican, Reg. Lat. 1283; Sac. = Berceo, Sacrificio de la Misa, ed. Solalinde; SDom. = Berceo, Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos, ed. Fitz-Gerald; SLor. = Berceo, El Martirio de San Lorenzo, ed. Marden; SMill. = Berceo, Vida de San Millán, ed. Marden, and BAE, vol. 67; SOr. = Berceo, Vida de Santa Oria, ed. Marden; Milg. = Berceo, Milagros, ed. Solalinde.

4 Also GE 1.7b, 23b, 32a, 83a, 85a, 86a, 99b, 153a, 612B; PC 32b, 44a, 50b, 79a, 95a, 109a, 155a, 156a, 161a, 217a, 219a, 230a, 231a; Sac. 2d, 161d; Apol. 296a, 499d; Pi. 1b, 13d, 14a.

5 Doubtful: Vino a Sant Mjllan, logar bien ordenado, demando la mongia, dieron gela de grado: fue bien si acordasse la fin en este estado SDom. 83d.

6 Related forms: corada (< cuer, corazón); cueral, coral, adj. ‘gemitos corales’ Milg. 784, ‘cueral amor’ PC 501a.11; cordojo, cordojoso.

For discussion of decorar see K. Pietsch, Mod. Phil. 7.50; H. Gavel, Homenaje a Menéndez Pidal 1.137–50; Revista de Filología Española 12.397 (1925); Lang. 7.215 (1931). Decorado is listed in the vocabulary of Cejador and that of Keller (Contribución al Vocabulario del Poema de Alexandre). Du Cange offers no suggestion that chorus is in any way the origin of decorar. Under cor, however, are listed: Fertur corde tenus sic homilías Quadraginta legens scire ‘know by heart, learn’; Psalmorum etiam verba et distinctiones regulariter et ex corde cum canticis consuetudinariis pronuntiare sciat ‘know by heart’.

The example in Milg. 745 seems to indicate ‘prudent’, ‘sagacious’: Dios sennero lo saue, que es bien decorado. Other examples from Berceo: El decoro lo todo commo bien entendido, Bien lo decoro esso como todo lo al SLor, 170–1. De hymnos e de canticos bien e gent decorado SDom. 38.

For the argument of chorus > coro > decorar it is of interest to note that there seems to be no case of chorus > *cuero recorded in the vocabularies of the earlier texts. Coro is found PC 774b.15; GE 1.448b.11; Sac. 283d, 247c; SDom. 88a, 118b, 121b; SMill. 306a; SOr. 63a, 67a. Sac. 7a has a variant choro (N). This would imply that coro, choro was still considered to be a learned word. Juan Ruiz uses coro 1399a; but in the conjugation of decorar he writes: por ende cada uno esta fabla decuere ‘let everyone learn’. The idiom tener de cuer ‘de-cor-ar’ is attested above GE 1.744b.7.

7 From cordātus REW3 §2228. We should have expected this form to produce *cordado or a-cordado, which is doubtless the case. Cuerdo seems to be only a post-verbal deriving from *cordus.

8 Modern European languages have so many expressions involving cor and heart that only a few need be mentioned: Ptg. acordar ‘wake up’, recordar (often with the same meaning), possibly decorar ‘learn by heart’; Fr. ne pas avoir le cœur à l'ouvrage ‘not have one's heart in it’, prendre une chose à cœur ‘take something to heart’, peser sur le cœur ‘weigh on one's heart’, par cœur ‘by heart’, de bon cœur ‘willingly’; Eng. learn by heart, not have the heart to do something, dishearten, as a man thinketh in his heart, have a heart! In the Semitic languages, cf. Ar. qalbun ‘heart, mind, intelligence’, qalbiyyun ‘hearty, cordial’: aškuru-ka šukran qalbiyyan ‘I thank thee a hearty thank (i.e. cordially)‘.

9 The large number of examples of corazón now available in the Alfonsine files offers material for an interesting semantic study; but it has been thought best to ignore related words unless they had some bearing on the determination of the etymology of acordar.